Hosta plant Solar Flare

ABSTRACT

A novel variety of Hosta, characterized by its large leaves of golden color borne on a large plant.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW VARIETY

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Hostaplant; a clonal selection designated as Hosta `Solar Flare`. This newHosta displays a golden green leaf color in early Spring which changesto golden yellow, with bright green midrib and veins, as it matures.This plant is also easily distinguished by its unusually large size,when compared with other known Hosta plants.

About 20 years ago; when varieties of Hosta available were very limited;I began a program intended to develop superior, new varieties of Hostain golden foliaged and variegated types. I began with open-pollinatedseed collected from Hosta "Frances Williams", Hosta tokudamaaureo-nebulosa and Hosta fortunei aurea. As the seedlings germinated,any which appeared to be golden-leaved or variegated were saved andplanted out while the rest were discarded. Initially, out of manythousands of seedlings; only a few of the desired types appeared. Openpollinated seed was then collected from those which appeared to be mostpromising and again the selection process was repeated. In 1978; inthird or fourth generation of open-pollinated seedlings; one appearedwhich was outstanding, unique and different from any others I had seen;here or anywhere else. This selection produced a huge plant with verylarge leaves which were of a most unique coloration; in that . . . asthe season progressed . . . they developed into enormous lightgolden-yellow foliaged plants with a bright green midrib on the upperleaf surface; the green coloration also usually appearing in the veinson either side of the midrib as well. This CLONE was subsequently giventhe name of Hosta `Solar Flare` and was registered with the AmericanHosta Society; (which is the International registrar for Hosta) in 1981under the name of the Gardenview Horticultural Park of which I am thefounder and director. Subsequently I propagated Hosta `Solar Flare`vegetatively by natural division and now have about 8 clumps, all ofwhich are absolutely identical with one another in all respects. Thefoliage of this clone begins with a greenish-gold in early Spring (moregold than green); and gradually changes, from week to week, until itmatures at a light golden-yellow with bright green midrib and veinstoward the end of the season. The nature and intensity of the yellowcoloring depends upon light intensity and temperature. In shady, lowlight areas; it is greenish-gold while in full light it becomes a deepyellow and in full sun, it bleaches out to a very light yellow. Theflowers are unimpressive and typical of hybrids of Hosta sieboldiana.Although registered in 1981; this variety has never been released to thedate of this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ATTACHED

The first sheet depicts a single-crown specimen of the claimed plant;centrally, within a plating of normal sized, sister seedling plants. Thesecond sheet has two close-up views showing individual leaves havingcharacteristic prominent, uniform veining. The upper drawing shows thecoloring in full sun while the lower drawing shows the coloring in fulllight but minimum sun.

Color specifications are presented from Horticultural Colour Chartissued by the British Colour Council in collaboration with The RoyalHorticultural Society (Wilson), except where ordinary terms of color aredescriptive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY PLANT

A herbaceous, clump-forming plant with short rhozomes; forming a largeclump with leaves basal, tufted, petioled. The plant is semi-upright inhabit of growth and, under ideal growing conditions, easily reaches afoliage mass height of 3 feet with a comparable spread; depending uponwhether it is a single crown plant or an old, established clumpcontaining many crowns.

LEAVES

Made up of a leaf petiole up to 26" long, topped with an ovate leafblade which; under ideal growing conditions; reaches up to 14" wide by18 inches long. The leaf blade is ovate, base cordate with tip acute,margin entire and gently undulating, glaucous on top and pruniosebeneath, with 18 pair of veins.

FOLIAGE COLORATION

Because the coloration varies; depending upon light conditions andtemperature; it is not possible to assign any one specific color to thefoliage. In low light, shady condition (in northern Ohio), thecoloration is close to, but a bit deeper and more yellow than RHSHorticultural Color Chart Sap Green 62/3. In full light but no sun, thecoloration is close to but a deeper, more muted shade of Barium Yellow503/2. In full sun the coloration bleaches out to Straw Yellow (604/3).Towards the latter part of the season the upper midrib develops a brightgreen coloration which often also spreads to the veins as well. Theattached color photographs depict the color variations as closely as itis possible to do so. The single photo shows a single-crown plant atmidseason with the green midrib coloration beginning to appear. On pagewith the two photos; the upper photo shows the coloration in bright sunwhile the lower photo shows the coloration in full light but with nosun. Both photos were taken earlier in the season at which time thegreen veining had not yet appeared.

FLOWERS (Not a basis for this selection)

The flowers are unimpressive and typical of most Hosta sieboldiana xHosta fortunei hybrids. The non-foliated flower stem is approximately 33inches tall when the plant blooms and is then slightly above thedeveloping foliage. As the foliage develops, it virtually hides theflower stem. Flowers funnelform up to 11/2 inches long, almost whiteflushed with palest lilac, in a terminal, scapose, bracted, one-sidedraceme, carrying 12-18 florets. Fertile.

This new and distinctive hybrid Hosta, of unknown parentage, was createdby me. It is a clonal selection; which when vegetatively propagated,produces offspring all of which are absolutely identical with oneanother in all respects. The special characteristics upon which thisselection was based are

1. The very large size of the plant

2. The very large size of the leaves

3. The unusual and distinctive coloration of the foliage.

This clonal selection is extremely vigorous in habit of plant growth andstriking because of the size and unusual coloring of its foliage;especially toward the later part of the growing season when the greenmidrib and veining appear on the upper surface.

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of Hosta, substantially asdescribed and illustrated; named Hosta `Solar Flare`; particularlydistinguished by its extreme large size and size of foliage in which thecolor ranges from golden-green to golden-yellow with bright green midriband veins developing on the upper surface toward the end of the growingseason.